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Inheritance laws

Re: Inheritance laws

Postby Babu » Mon May 06, 2019 9:04 am

So sorry for your loss.

You are right to start the process quickly in Spain. We had our wills in Spain done 2 weeks ago and the Notary explained why it should be done.

Firstly, under EU law you can still specify to have your National laws apply even without a Spanish will, although the process is more complicated and costly than if you had one.
Secondly, Spain has a comparatively short timescale to process their version of Probate otherwise you start getting fines for delays (6 months I recall).
This can be a problem without a Spanish will as you will have to complete UK Probate before you can process it in Spain and it often exceeds 6 Months to do especially if you don't have a UK one either, whereas a Spanish will can be processed independently of the UK system.

So whilst not as straightforward as having a Spanish Will (or a Uk one for that matter) it can still be done.
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Re: Inheritance laws

Postby TonTri » Mon May 06, 2019 9:12 am

Thank you Babu, that is encouraging. I'll have to find out what this Probate stuff is, Google will help me no doubt.
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Re: Inheritance laws

Postby Stephanie » Tue May 07, 2019 7:03 am

I think that although the bank will freeze the account, you can still pay money IN to cover utility bills.

So sorry this has happened to you. I recently helped a friend of mine when she was in a similar situation. If you have a good lawyer, things will be easier. It takes time but all will be sorted in the end. I wish you all the best.
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Re: Inheritance laws

Postby TonTri » Tue May 07, 2019 7:21 am

Thank you Stephanie
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Re: Inheritance laws

Postby Kenbo » Tue May 07, 2019 3:15 pm

Hi TonTri

Please accept my heartfelt condolences for such a tragic and sudden loss, I know from your recent postings that you haven't had your holiday home for too long, for you both to have worked hard all your lives only then to have your dreams ripped away is absolutely heartbreaking for you both.

I tried to write a reply in your thread yesterday but as it took me a while to write it, the forum had logged me out and when I tried to submit the post it was totally lost, trying a copy and paste this time.

I found myself in your position when my wife passed away in 2014.

We were non resident and jointly owned property in the UK and Spain, we had hand written mirror wills in the uk which were well out of date but we had an official Spanish will.

In the uk I spoke to the probate office who informed me that it isn't always necessary to through probate and in fact I did it all myself without any experience whatsoever.

Find out from the banks/building societies what their financial limits are for each account before probate becomes necessary, I shuffled money around my accounts to remain below their limits. This way only death certificates are needed to put the account into your name only, I also bought extra certs at the time of registering the death.

Also speak the land registry, I filled in their forms and sent them back along with a death certificate, you should inherit your husband's half of the uk property automatically as his spouse but the land registry need to know. The utility companies may need the death certs too.

As for Spain, I could not have done this without the help of my fantastic solicitor who walked me through the process, she was so patient as I had so many questions but she answered every single email promptly, I gave her power of attorney and only went over to Spain to sign paperwork at the end of the process, she also changed my Spanish bank account into my name only and yes they did freeze my wife's half, keep enough in there to cover your direct debits.

As you will be inheriting your husband's half of the property inheritance tax could be due and should be paid within 6 months. I took quotes from 5 different solicitors, their fees varied enormously, luckily I picked the right one.

In 2014 there was a law going through the EU courts regarding how Spain were unfairly taxing non residents at different rates to Spanish residents, this law was upheld at about the same time as I had just paid the inheritance tax but my solicitor claimed this back for me, it took 13 months for the refund to hit my account though, my solicitor said that I was the first person that she knew of to recover this tax.

Also around the same time allowance levels for inheritance tax within the Valencian community were raised to 100,000 euros, so you may get away with the tax depending upon the value of your property, not sure if these allowance levels are the same today.

This was the way the situation worked out for me, I am sure that others may have had different experiences but maybe a little of the above may help you.

Forums aren't for everyone, it can feel as though you are living your life in public but in 2014 I was a member of another forum, still am, some of the members are on here too but they gave me a tremendous amount of support and advice.

Stay strong, Ken x
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Re: Inheritance laws

Postby jpeg » Tue May 07, 2019 3:25 pm

Very informative post Thankyou
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Re: Inheritance laws

Postby TonTri » Tue May 07, 2019 4:04 pm

Many thanks Ken for taking the time and trouble to write all that out for me. It fills me with much more hope. Our joint assets are below the limit for UK inheritance tax and, if the local Spanish threshold is 100,000 euros then I should be exempt from that also.

I was intending to handle the UK probate stuff myself as it appears straightforward as everything should automatically come to me and apparently solicitors here charge £1000's to sort it, but I will check if I need a probate order at all as my husband only has a couple of accounts both of which have less than £5000 in as I have most of the savings accounts in my name only. I will engage a Spanish solicitor though as that is more complicated.

Yes this forum is not only a great source of information but full of compassionate people. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to reply and it is good to get the opinions of people who have been in the same situation.

many thanks again
Trina
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Re: Inheritance laws

Postby Kenbo » Tue May 07, 2019 4:17 pm

You are most welcome Trina.
Just as a rough guide, the costs in Spain for Solicitor, notary, land registry etc for me came to around 3900e and then I had the inheritance tax refunded so around 2700e. Some solicitors were quoting me nearly 6000e,
I have seen that many members have recommended Sylvia to you but if you need to take another opinion I will be happy to give you my solicitors contact details, they are based in Los Balcones.
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Re: Inheritance laws

Postby TonTri » Tue May 07, 2019 4:29 pm

Thank you Ken, I will bear that in mind.
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